How Mexican Food Conquered the USA

#mexicanfood #history #PikeProductions

From the Chili Queens of San Antonio to the Mission Burritos of San Francisco, Mexican food has truly conquered kitchens across the US.

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Abridged Script:

Part 1: The New World Brings New Delicacies

Before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, the food of the old world would be unrecognizable from what it is today. In this new hemisphere, the Spaniards discovered dozens of new & exotic food types that would forever change how Europeans eat. Some notable examples include corn, avocado, blueberries, tomatoes, all peppers within the capsicum genus, squash and other cucurbits, vanilla, cacao beans, both regular & sweet potatoes, and several beans, including the poorly named french bean.

While these crops were grown throughout the first nations of the Americas, it was really the Tiano & Aztec Empire’s cultivation of these crops that collided with the Spaniards. The Spanish were particularly intrigued by how the Aztecs made a hot drink with cacao beans, a sort of tea that would be unrecognizable from today's hot Chocolate. After sampling the original Aztec version of hot chocolate, King Charles the fifth of Spain called it:

“A divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food.”

While the Spanish nobility grew quite fond of chocolate and vanilla, they weren’t very interested in Aztec’s main staple food: the tortilla. The Aztecs only made tortillas with corn, as wheat was an European crop. Even with modern kitchen tools, making tortillas from scratch can be a long and slow process. Part of its preparation time is that the corn needs to go through a process called nixtamalization [niece-tamale-zation] , which is similar to fermentation. The newly arrived Sapinairds would eventually learn to appreciate the tortilla, as they learned that corn was a more productive crop than wheat.

The Spanish would also introduce their own foods with the Aztecs, notably the meats of beef, pork, and poultry. Over the centuries, the Spanish and Aztec culinary cultures would cross-pollinate to the point where they were no longer distinguishable from each other. A new culinary tradition had been born: the Mexican Culinary tradition.

For the most part, this new world - old world fusion stayed within its borders until the 19th century.

After the annexation of Texas and the US-Mexico wr in the mid-1800s, the US seized about half a million square miles (1.3 million square KM) of territory from their neighbors. Within this newly ceded Mexican land were, as you may suspect, Mexicans.

Whether Califiorino or Tejano, most of these Mexican populations were treated poorly by their gringo neighbors. That would start to change in the 1870s. In this decade, San Antonio became a popular tourist destination for US Americans. One gringo writer described San Antonio as where

“The life of the seventeenth century prevails, without any taint of modernism”

The big draw for tourists was the Mexican quarter of San Antonio, which drew in curious wanderers. The big nighttime attraction where stands that sold chile con carne, better known today as chili.

Credits:

Intro food sequence:
Soup - https://youtu.be/MysqcwTB4So
Smoked Turkey - https://youtu.be/6QiuvHtUBtw
Salsa - https://youtu.be/NYCZF3ciXto

Aztec art:
ALEXANDER SKÖLD - http://alexanderskold.com/
Yashaswi Karthik - https://yash2333.artstation.com/
Sam Delfanti - https://samdelfanti.artstation.com/
Joseph Feely - https://joefly.artstation.com/

Cooking Xocolatl, Aztec’s hot chocolate - https://youtu.be/RfjhB8mIXUA
Vanilla process - https://youtu.be/Jhn-BdJHt24
Tortillas made from scratch - https://youtu.be/33gOhQ_3K3s
Oaxaca food culture - https://youtu.be/5I61bmSb44o
Chili cook-off - https://youtu.be/O2eE7qMxzAc

Making of hard shell tacos:

Bliss of cooking - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smw30aMBNTA
Mole Mama - https://youtu.be/Z7mm_jKAVms

Taco fryer - https://youtu.be/jGE7AW8c4Yk

Filling the taco - https://youtu.be/BAb_FnFfRTY
Cheesy taco - https://youtu.be/UotSLZZoc0M
Filling the taco 2 - https://youtu.be/u-cvyA-TyNU
Homemade Taco Bell - https://youtu.be/YwccbEDRs-o
Taco tray - https://youtu.be/i04fMu6ilgw
Frying Taco beef - https://youtu.be/qL6ml7x56p4

Salsa b roll - https://youtu.be/xgJ_Nd5nLyQ
Tortilla factory - https://youtu.be/v_PHNUmqRAY

Mission district burritos - https://youtu.be/GgaM5RjoddQ
Mission district broll - https://youtu.be/CWVrXEp0SHY
Mission district broll 2 - https://youtu.be/nV4exo3C5U8
Sound design:
Space station - https://youtu.be/wkI6_BgU8Is